Positive wildlife findings in Indonesia

Health In Harmony’s Indonesian partner Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) was founded in 2007 with just one clinic. The organization has since grown to protect the ecosystems of Borneo's Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP) by implementing solutions designed by 60,000 people living in 44 communities around the park. 

Research shows that, over the first ten years, ASRI’s healthcare, livelihood, and reforestation programs contributed to a 70% reduction in deforestation in GPNP and significantly improved human health outcomes (Jones et al., 2020). 

Now, a recent paper from researchers at Health In Harmony, ASRI, and GPNP – published by Chulalongkorn University – builds on these previous findings. 

Researchers monitored wildlife in two reforestation areas of Gunung  Palung  National  Park  (GPNP)  where ASRI operates in order to quantify wildlife presence and assess re-habitation. Wildlife species were monitored using camera traps in two reforested ecosystems: lowland dipterocarp forest and peat swamp forest.

Sightings included the short-tailed mongoose, native to the evergreen forests of Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo. Another popular sighting included the Borneo orangutan, a primate species whose habitat has been highly affected by logging and hunting in Indonesia. Dozens of other species were sighted, some habitat  generalists, detected in both ecosystems, while others were habitat specialists, occurring in only one of the two ecosystems.

Researchers summarized that “the multiple trophic levels of wildlife detected indicate successful reforestation.”

Read the paper to learn more about these findings and the promising recommendations for ASRI’s continued work in the region.